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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Stars Fire On All Cylinders As Push For Playoffs Gets Serious

The team’s best players showed up in force and brought home a big win. Plus, Stars rookies shine, how Ron Francis could make the Kraken contenders, and more.

The Dallas Stars pulled off exactly the game they needed last night. Defeating the Nashville Predators in regulation wasn’t just a great way to kick off the month of April – it places them five points away from fourth place in the Central Division, with four games in hand.

The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks takes stock of a game in which, finally, “the Stars’ offensive weapons all fired”:

The win snapped a three-game losing streak (though two of them came in overtime) for the Stars and improved their record to 12-12-10 with 22 games remaining. Dallas is five points behind Nashville for fourth place in the Central Division with four games in hand.

“Any win feels good right now,” [captain Jamie] Benn said. “We got a lot of good efforts out there from every player that played in that game [Thursday]. Take that two points and enjoy it and move on.”

The game may have been especially important for Roope Hintz, who right now is probably the Stars’ best forward on any given night. His dynamic presence on the ice belies the fact that he’s still mired in a halting recovery from the lower-body injury he suffered in January:

Thursday could have been a turning point for Hintz. It was the first time since Feb. 22 that Hintz played in three straight games, and he now has 14 points in his last 11 games. In the previous seven games without Hintz, the Stars were 0-2-5.

“I don’t think he’s surprising any of us anymore,” [Esa] Lindell said. “We on the team know how good he is and how good he can be.”

Matt has more. [SportsDayDFW]

Stars Stuff

Tyler Seguin will probably start practicing with the team by the second week of April. If you have to cry at work, go ahead.

One day after signing Fighting Hawks forward Jordan Kawaguchi, the Stars hit the University of North Dakota again, this time for netminder Adam Scheel.

The Robo-milestones keep on coming...

...and the Calder Trophy competition suddenly looks very close.

So where’s the Robertson hype train? Steven Ellis is glad you asked.

Around The Leagues

#Disco Heat

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win that split their series with the Columbus Blue Jackets. [Raw Charge]
  • And Alex Wennberg played overtime hero as the Florida Panthers defeated the Detroit Red Wings in extra minutes, 3-2. [Winging It In Motown]/

The North Division is catching up in the dubious “games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols” metric.

Iain McIntyre’s latest piece for Sportsnet examines the human cost of COVID-19 through the lens of Travis Hamonic’s struggle with the virus.

As the expansion draft draws near, it pays to look at how Ron Francis made the Carolina Hurricanes contenders – and how he might do the same for the Seattle Kraken.

Just imagine how busy this guy will be when the playoffs roll around.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

Riley Damiani is here to remind you that he’s having a season, too.

Are you thinking what Stephen Meserve is thinking?

Finally

We leave you with this video of Miro Heiskanen winning empty-net roulette. Enjoy.

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